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I haven't been around much these past 4 months or so. So,... I thought I would give an update as to what is going on. Been pretty busy...

Lets see, Back in late February, I was told I would have to have a complete background check done, along with fingerprinting and picture ID taken. This all happened because I was hired prior to 2004, so the company wanted to make sure I had no criminal background, felonies, child abuse, elderly abuse, drug abuse... You get the point. ( maybe I mentioned this before )

This all goes through AHCA ( Florida agency for Heathcare Administration )

Actually, one of them was on the inside of his right ear,( which was the difficult one) one on his nose, and one on the left side of his face just below the side-burn.

I am happy to report that all the squamous cell had been removed, and he healed up quite nicely. Each one of these surgeries was between $700.00 and $1.000 a piece. He has insurance, so he met his deductible quite early.

Then he had some more health problems, the doctor believed, he was having a bad reaction to the Lipitor, and trilipix, that he takes. Even though he's been on these medications for about 2 years, the doctor thought he was having a problem with his CPK levels.

So, he was ordered to stop those medications and take some more tests. After further testing, this (CPK) was not the case. All his blood tests came back OK ! After some further testing the doctor gave him a prescription for Meclizine. He was getting dizzy and light headed. The Meclizine, is doing it's job, and he's back to his old self again. The doctor still wants him off the Lipitor, and trilipix, for the time being. He will have some more tests in a couple months, to see how his lipids have changed.

For a while there, I was really getting concerned. But Ed is doing OK !

What else,...

I had to do my annual orientation and continuing education, So I had 20 courses I had to take, and pass. This was done online through Redilearning.

These are courses, required of me to take, Since I work in the healthcare industry, even though I have no hands on with patients. So, even though I had until December 31st to complete these, I took my time, and completed all in 3 weeks. It was all common sense material, and I had no problem with any of the courses, or follow up tests, and earned myself 20 certificates. The courses were a bit more extensive and intensive, than the old classroom annual orientation.

We had a fellow employee that worked with us, for about 7 years, have a breakdown of sorts. It happened on my shift.

I reported it to HR, the previous day, that something wasn't right and that we didn't feel safe around him, and that he may do something drastic, to other employees. Well, I reported that on a Monday, and the following night, (Tuesday) was when the trouble began.

He lost it and trashed the public restrooms, and then began threatening security, with lines like "There will be a surprise waiting for you when you do your outside rounds tonight"

At 5:00 in the morning he disappeared and no one knew where he was, But he had his two-way radio ( we all have these to communicate with nurses, CNA's, housekeeping and security, etc.

By the time administration showed up, he was communicating on the radio, " your time is limited" It was freaky hearing that, and not knowing where he was in the building, or on the grounds.

At this point we were ordered into lock down, along with the nursing home ( we had no idea where he was, inside or outside the building ) , the sheriffs department came in full force, to take control of the situation. He eventually drove off the property and they located him at his residence. I am not really sure what happened at that point. I know he wasn't arrested, but he may have been Baker acted.

So,... For about one week after that incident, the 6 of us that work the graveyard shift, had a armed Pinellas county sheriff with us from 10:00 pm until 7:00 AM, for protection, in case he returned.

Well, sure enough he did. About 2 weeks later, he pulled into his parking spot, and proceeded to make his way to the front entrance. At that time, he noticed another co-worker coming into work and he turned around and walked in the other direction.

The Sheriffs dept, was called immediately, by security, and was there in about 2 minutes. A trespass warrant was issued at that point, and he was told ( again) not to step foot on the campus, or he would be arrested. His remark to the sheriff was " I've worked her for almost ten years , it's hard to let go" . We know he has some serious mental issues, and I hope that he can get his life in order but,,,....

One night last week, he was seen driving past the work place at 12:30 AM, by another employee, while doing exterior round checks. Nothing could be done, as he wasn't on our property, but it makes you wonder, what he's planning. I mentioned to this employee, to make sure he documents this with his supervisor. The following morning, I mentioned the incident to my supervisor.

We're all keeping our eyes open. You just never know, if or when he will do something. Our building is secure.

Ok,, enough of that ! ====================================================

Had some blood tests done on April 29th, and I took a dive in my t-cell count. Went from 580 tcells (highest ever from December 24th,2012, ) down to 373 t-cell on 4/29/13. Percentage dropped from 16 to 15%..

I'm not feeling bad, other than some sluggishness,( but I am over 61, I think I can be a little sluggish) but anyway, I had my appointment to discuss these labs, this morning @ 9:00, at the VA.

I already knew the questions I was going to ask , but the doctor was already answering my questions, before I had asked them. Ed looked over at me and grinned, because he knew the questions I was going to ask, so he thought it was pretty good that the doctor was right on top of things. I was only discussing these questions with Ed, 20 minutes before we got to the VA. Ed wanted to know if I had some telepathy going on with the doc !

So I left the VA feeling good. We're going back to 3 month testing ( instead of every 4 months ) I will go back in for labs sometime in July, and we'll see where I stand on those tests results.

The talk of possibly adding/changing medication came up briefly, or possibly a new regimen, but "one day at a time". He said we"ll talk about this more after the results from the July labs. I have no problem with changing meds if that's the case.

I reminded the doctor, that I've never been on protease inhibitors, and that since 2003, nothing has basically changed in my medication, except when I dropped Viread ( the 3rd nuke back then in 2009 of a 4 drug regemin)

My appetite is good, weight is good, no diahreah/constipation or any bowel or stomach issues going on.

Perhaps it was just a bad test, but I am not going to be concerned about it at his point. I know the doctor is looking closely at this.

The doctor is also going to suggest to my primary, to go ahead and check my testosterone.

I have another appointment at the VA, tomorrow ( Wednesday) at 11:00 AM. This is for the dermatologist. I also had a little keratosis on my right wrist, which will be frozen off .

And finally, My next labs ( from my primary ) will be on June 17th. This will be my metabolic panel. We'll see how my cholesterol and lipids are doing. I will follow up on those results on June 24th.

Er had a new roof put on the townhouse yesterday. They started @ 8:00 in the morning, and didn't stop until 6:00 PM. Needless to say, I couldn't sleep yesterday, and I still had to go into work on Monday night. So I was beat !

Good thing is, I am off of work until Sunday, So I have a little R&R. I have about 196 hours of vacation time, and I plan on using most of that up before December.

I am still considering going to a 4 day work week, ( perhaps starting in July) until I retire in December. I am so ready for this!

Good to hear from you. Just keep in mind, 4 long days may be too much for you. Since you are retiring at the end of the year, maybe you should stick with the 5 until then. Take care of yourself. Hugs to both of you, Deiby

Have to agree with Mark a few long weekends can be great try something you wanted to do but didnt want to commit alot...like a weekend at Branson , everything from fun oldies to Zip line adventures there . lots of inexpensive condos for rent

So far the time off has been great and relaxing ! I ended up having 3 areas frozen off on Wednesday. One in each ear and the one on the right wrist. Another 6 month appointment has been set up at the end of November

Today, I think we're heading to the beach for a "short" while. Have to make sure we both get the sunscreen on us.

The water temp is still a little chilly @ 83 degrees. I prefer the water temp @ 88-89degrees !

First day of hurricane season starts today, hopefully it will be a quiet year, but their not predicting that.

The rainy season is starting to brew, can see it in the skies. Another couple of weeks, and we will be back to the normal afternoon thundershowers.

Ray, it seems you get the skin cancer burned off frequently. I hope you guys used a lot of sun tan lotion at the beach! Also, enjoy the rest of your time off. I truly understand, time off from work goes by so fast.

Logged

I've never killed anyone, but I frequently get satisfaction reading the obituary notices.-Clarence Darrow

I'm pretty good at discovering these very early on,( and that's the secret) although the one in my right ear, slipped by unnoticed, until the dermatologist placed my hand up there where I could feel it.

It's when you let these go, that they end up turning into, basal cell, or squamous cell.

Ed on the other has only experienced this in the last 2 months, with the removal of 3 squamous areas.So he's quite upset about it. I think our days in the sun are limited.

So, Lots of sunscreen, and when we go to the beach or pool, it's early in the morning, and we usually had enough and leave no later than 10:30.

One of my sisters lives in Phoenix, another sunny area, and it seems she's always getting lesions burned off. I'm glad your derm was able to spot the lesion on your ear and everything was able to be taken care of before it got serious.

When I was growing up I don't ever remember hearing about skin cancer. I don't think I heard anything about it until I was in my 30's and my dad had to have a spot taken care of. He was in the sun all the time.

Sometimes I wonder if the depletion of the ozone is partly to blame for the rise in skin cancers.

Logged

I've never killed anyone, but I frequently get satisfaction reading the obituary notices.-Clarence Darrow

One of my sisters lives in Phoenix, another sunny area, and it seems she's always getting lesions burned off. I'm glad your derm was able to spot the lesion on your ear and everything was able to be taken care of before it got serious.

When I was growing up I don't ever remember hearing about skin cancer. I don't think I heard anything about it until I was in my 30's and my dad had to have a spot taken care of. He was in the sun all the time.

Sometimes I wonder if the depletion of the ozone is partly to blame for the rise in skin cancers.

Here is the New Mexico, we have a very high skin cancer rate, in part because we get a lot of sun, and in part because we are a mile, plus or minus, above sea level and don't have all that great air pollution to keep us safe.

I check my head and the parts of the body I can see weekly for unusual spots, especially since the doctor had to surgically remove the cancer on the top of my head.

Hats are my friend, but I cannot get used to putting sunscreen on my face. I hate the way it feels and it invariably ends up in my eyes.